1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sliding block guide for openable motor vehicle roofs, with a guideway which has a guide channel, and a sliding block which is movably guided in the guide channel along the guideway, and which has a rubber-elastic sliding block body and a sliding cap which is seated on the sliding block body.
2. Description of Related Art
Sliding block guides of the above mentioned type are known from, for example, German Patent DE 43 36 222 C1 and published European Patent Application EP 0 403 738 A2 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,332. In these known sliding block guides, the rubber-elastic sliding block body is provided with a lengthwise groove into which a foot of the sliding block carrier is inserted. Sliding block guides are used not only for straight guideways, but also often for those with curved areas, as is known, for example, from German Patent DE 100 33 887 C1 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,750. However, the known sliding blocks can handle curves only to a limited degree. In the curve area, contact pressures are relatively high and deformation of the sliding block is great. In particular, for a high weight of the vehicle part which is to be moved, for example, a cover, this is associated with high wear. This wear leads to unwanted play of the slider in its guide channel, and thus, to rattling of the system when there is unevenness in the roadway and with the resulting impacts on the vehicle.
A primary object of this invention is to devise a sliding block guide which has low wear over the service life of the system and which provides for the absence of rattling in an especially effective manner.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in that, in a sliding block guide of the initially mentioned type, a carrier part is inserted in the rubber-elastic sliding block body which has higher strength and stiffness than the sliding block body, and is pivotally supported for its part on the support pin.
The sliding block guide in accordance with the invention is characterized by improved curve handling capacity with reduced wear. It avoids or reduces at least unwanted rattling noise.
The carrier part can be made of high-strength plastic or of metal. Preferably, the support pin is made of metal and is spray-coated with the plastic which forms the carrier part so that the carrier part can turn without play on the support pin from the start. But optionally the carrier part can also be sprayed separately and can be clipped onto the support pin.
The carrier part for highly loadable support of the sliding block body and the sliding cap can have a hub which surrounds the carrier pin and two wings which project essentially radially from opposite sides of the hub.
The sliding block body is preferably made essentially cap-shaped with a peripheral wall and an end wall which adjoins one side of the peripheral wall and is slotted in the area of its peripheral wall, the slots extending feasibly in the lengthwise direction of the sliding block and/or in the transverse direction of the sliding block.
The sliding block can have an essentially cuboidal shape and is made mirror-symmetrical both in the lengthwise direction and also in the transverse direction.
The sliding cap is preferably clipped onto the carrier part, and in the interest of high stability, is connected essentially without play to the carrier part in the lengthwise direction of the sliding block. For the carrier part, it can have especially a peripheral wall, with the carrier part resting against its inside in the area of the narrow sides of the sliding block, since tolerance equalization is unnecessary in the lengthwise direction of the sliding block.
However, preferably, the sliding cap is elastically movable for especially effective tolerance equalization with reference to the carrier part, both in the transverse direction of the sliding block and also in the rotary direction around the axis of the support pin. Here, the sliding block can have a peripheral wall, from the inside of which the carrier part lies at a distance in the area of the lengthwise sides of the sliding block.
The rubber elastic sliding block body, advantageously, occupies essentially the entire space between the carrier part and the sliding cap.
The sliding surfaces of the sliding cap which slide-engage the walls of the guide channel, preferably, as is known from German Patent DE 4336222 C1, integrate stripping lips which run obliquely relative to the displacement direction and eliminate dirt particles which can have penetrated into the sliding block guide during operation.
In another embodiment of the invention, in the area of the curves of the guideway, the guide channel is wider than in the area of the straight guideway sections. The curve handling capacity of the sliding block in curved guideways is thus additionally improved. The widening of the guide channel in the curve areas of the guideway is dimensioned such that the sliding block conforms to the guide channel walls essentially without deformation when these curve areas are traversed.
The invention is explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of example.